Just in case you happened to be in a good mood when you started reading this, let me just sort of toss out a few words, names, and phrases: Foreclosure. Lay-off. Stock market nosedive. Unemployment. Bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers. Auto Industry. Home value. Bank failure. $3000 per second. OK. Now that you’re good and depressed, let me bring you back up again. (I feel like a pharmaceutical company!) This miserable economic mess we are in might actually give a few lucky, lesser-known golf equipment manufacturers a leg up on their big-name competitors. Here’s how I figure it: Despite the overall decline in golf ... full post »

Golf is a frustrating game. It is perhaps THE most frustrating game for a number of defensible reasons, none of which will I go into here. My own greatest frustration is the complete disconnect I feel between the range and the course. I can hit ANY shot on the range, or just about. And I can do so rather consistently. This is why I test and review so much equipment. On the range, I am fully capable of putting any club through its paces. Why, dear golf gods, why in the name of all that’s birdie, can I not transfer that control ... full post »

[AUTHOR’S NOTE: There had been some earlier reports that clicking on the Cartpath.com link triggered a warning about possible malware, in response to which, I had removed the original posting of this blog. I just received word from John Mitchell of Cartpath.com that the warning, originating with Google, has been removed. Security is fine, and Cartpath.com is a legit site.] I’ve recently become rather enamored of Facebook. Once the almost exclusive domain of teens, the world’s most successful social networking site now boasts a rapidly growing number of older, er, more experienced members such as myself. Despite my initial skepticism about ... full post »

The folks at Straight Aim have discovered something about grips: If they are exposed to sunlight and/or air, they become slippery faster. While this discovery may not be quite Nobel-Prize-worthy, it would seem to be a plausible reason why your clubs might come out of winter storage with the grips feeling a bit less “tacky” that when you put them away. Another contributing factor is that the oils from your hands have had a chance to glaze over and solidify on the grips. How to reinvigorate your grips before the season begins? Well, one could certainly spend the money to have ... full post »

Ahh, it’s that time of year again on Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, Minnesota. It’s time for stir-crazy, spring-fevered golfers to don their longjohns and grab a few clubs—and maybe a hockey stick—and hit the icy links. It’s time for The Chilly Open. Tomorrow, February 7, is the day devoted Twin Cities-area golfers look forward to. Come snow, come sub-zero temperatures, come nipples so hard they slice through your shirt, there will be fairways plowed smooth, and holes drilled into the ice. There will be schnapps and beer, there will be bratwursts and chili. And there will be our old friends from BogeyPro Golf, ... full post »